A free floating manipulation strategy for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

Free floating autonomous underwater manipulation is still an open research topic; an important challenge is offered by free floating manipulation, where the vehicle maintains relevant velocities during manipulation tasks. This paper focuses on the modelling and the control of an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle for Intervention (I-AUV). To this aim, an accurate model of the I-AUV has been implemented, including the interaction with the fluid. Then, a control architecture for the whole system is proposed, with particular attention on a suitable grasp planning strategy. Finally, a free floating manipulation task has been simulated to analyse in detail the performances of the I-AUV control system.